I’m still shocked at the passing of Martin Phillips of The Chills. He made a number of songs and albums that truly inspired me and many others. Please check out the interview I did with him in 1997, and listen to his song “Pink Frost” if you’ve never heard his music. You’ll find the beauty and sadness of this song quite fitting. It’s one of many great songs from a great writer. -Larry Crane
Tape Op is a bi-monthly magazine devoted to the art of record making.
So I just noticed an email in my inbox from a PR person with the headline: "XXXXX MICS FEATURED IN THE BEATLES?: ROCK BAND? VIDEO GAME". What's next? "Shure SM57 seen briefly in a movie"? "Rob Thomas sings into wrong side of a mic in a video"? Oh...
October is starting off with a bang and a long list of great new releases. Here are a few notables.
Hard Quartet - Heel HighwayThis new indie rock "supergroup" consists of Stephen Malkmus (Tape Op #15), Jim White, Emmett Kelly, and Matt Sweeney....
In editor Larry Crane's recent End Rant [Tape Op #127], he talked about how people are currently learning recording techniques, all of the misinformation on the internet, and how this leads to the homogenization of music making in general. All of the...
I’m normally not that into live albums, but Nils Frahm is not a normal musician. I saw him play live in 2018 when I interviewed him for Tape Op, and it was hard to believe that he was the only musician on stage. Blending electronic elements...
Australia has always had its fair share of rock and punk bands, and the tradition continues today with artists like The Chats, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, and Amyl and the Sniffers, just to name a few.
Amyl and the Sniffers new...
"...from what I have seen, the industry is fatally flawed. Everyone seems to want something for nothing and few are willing to pay for what something is actually worth. Plus, there are thousands of graduates flooding recording studios each year...
After 20 years at the Davis Square location (and a previous 15 years on Albany Street), Boston’s Q Division Studios had to close its doors in July of 2021. Through the years, Q Division was host to a diverse group of artists, including Aimee...
With hindsight, you could look at Wilco’s A Ghost is Born as a transitional album. Much has been written about their previous LP, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and a documentary film, I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, chronicles how during the making...
Sick of this economy and its doom and gloom? Sick of bands saying they don’t have money to record? Sick of top 40 radio? I have the answer: do something about it.
Support independent musicians by going out and purchasing CDs from bands...